(i) Thoth Tarot Colour Symbolism and Traditional Colour Theory 

Thoth Tarot Colour Symbolism and Traditional Colour Theory : Colour makes up for a large part of the overall energy and feel of a Tarot Card and so this section of work looks at the symbology of colour in Tarot and how this relates to a cards overall meaning. We have started with the primary colours Red, Blue and Yellow as all other colours are derived from them as can be shown in the images below. 

(a) Primary Colours

A primary colour is one of the three colours, red, yellow or blue, that can be mixed together in different ways to make any other colour. Primary colours are CANNOT be made by mixing other colours.

 

(b) Secondary Colours 

A colour resulting from the mixing of two primary colours for example :

 

(c) Tertiary Colours

1. A colour produced by mixing two secondary colours

 

 

      2. A colour produced by an equal mixture of a primary color with a secondary color adjacent to it on the color wheel. So in the example below Red (Primary) + Orange (Secondary) = Red-Orange (Tertiary);  Blue (Primary) + Violet (Secondary) = Blue-Violet (Tertiary) and so on.

 

 

 

 

(ii) Colours, The Tree of Life and The Tetragrammaton

 

(iii) Ten Colours in the Thoth Tarot

For the 4 colours associated with the elements, we should see more of the colour in the lower value cards of the suit where the energy is purest, and then this colour becomes less predominant as the energies become mixed as we progress down the Tree of Life. So does this bear out with the 4 suits of the Thoth Tarot ?

 

1. Red

Health, Strength, Physical Energy, Courage, Intense Emotions, Sexuality, Aggression. Temper, Leadership,Passion for Life

 

Thoth Tarot Minor Arcana Suit of Wands

 

Other Thoth Tarot Examples :

10 of Cups (Satiety)

2 of Wands (Dominion) = directed force or will.

10 of Swords (Ruin) = energy applied in a destructive manner

 

 

2. Blue

A Balanced Spiritual Understanding, Healing, Peace, Psychic, Philosophy,  Spirituality, Subconscious, Communication, Tranquility, thoughtfulness, calmness, deep as the ocean, high as the sky.

 

Thoth Tarot Minor Arcana Suit of Cups

 

 

Other Thoth Tarot Examples

2 of cups (Love)  = sensitivity, calmness

4 of swords (Truce) = blue background, little association here.

High Priestess =  intuition, spirituality

Adjustment = no obvious association

Star = sensitivity, spirituality

Hanged Man = no obvious link

 

3. Yellow

An intellectual approach or intellectual balance, Confidence, Self-Esteem, Mental. Sun, masculine, of the mind. (feminine moon).

Its association with intellect is to do with the Sun being thought of as masculine and this is represented by figures such as the Egyptian Sun God Amen Ra (seen below) where as Goddesses were associated with the Moon and femininity.

 

 

Thoth Tarot Minor Arcana Suit of Swords

 

Other Thoth Tarot Examples:

5 of Wands (Strife)

 

4. Brown

Animals, Earth,  Stability, Stagnation, Material World, Groundedness.

Brown is a tertiary colour which is made from is made from mixing yellow and red then adding a little blue . You can also make brown from green a secondary colour which is made from mixing blue and yellow and then red a primary colour which also makes it a tertiary colour.

 

Thoth Tarot Minor Arcana Suit of Disks

 

Going back to the Tetragrammaton :

Yod = Red , He = Blue , Vav = Yellow  = The 3 primary colours

He Final = Brown = a tertiary colour.

Looking at the Tree of Life below, Brown = Earth or Malkuth is the pendulum on the Tree and quite far removed from the rest. Vau is both the brother and the consort to the He Final and so its an ambiguous relationship. The fact that brown is a tertiary colour and far removed from the primary colour ties in with this distant relationship between Malkuth and the rest of the sephira of the Tree of Life

 

 

There is almost a complete absence of brown in the rest of the Thoth Deck apart from the Court Disks & possibly the 8 of Disks. 

 

We will now include the Thoth Major Arcana in our study:

 

5. Orange

A passionate approach, Drive, Activity, Ambition, Enthusiasm, Warmth, Sociable.

 

Thoth Tarot Examples:

3 of Wands (virtue) = doing things for our highest good

4 of Disks (Power) = desert in background

5 of Cups (Disappointment)

10 of Cups (Satiety)

 

6. Green

Harmony, Balance, Money, Prosperity, Fertility, Healing, Growth, Peace.

 

Thoth Tarot Examples:

9 of Disks (Gain) = prosperity, growth

Ace of Disks = Potential Growth of Tangible or practical projects.

2 of swords (Peace)

4 of Swords (Truce)

 

 

7. Purple

Compassion, Power, Spirituality, Spiritual Leadership/Teacher, Psychic, Nobility

 

Thoth Tarot Examples:

7 of wands (Valour)

2 of Disks (Change)

8 of swords (Interference)

 

8. Grey

Uniformity, depression, dullness, Unsettling, Stressful

 

Thoth Tarot Examples:

5 of Disks(Worry)

7 of Disks (Failure)

 

9. White

Purity of motive, Innocence, Protection, Purification, Hope, Clarity, The soul (white light), innocence.

 

Thoth Tarot Examples:

Ace of Cups

Magus

Hierophant

Lovers

 

10. Black

Negativity, Sadness, Mourning, Loss, Guilt, Depression, Emptiness, Darkness, Mystery, The beginning and the end, the abyss, the culmination of things, the completion of a cycle, the void.

 

Thoth Tarot Examples: 

2 of disks (Change) = beginnings and endings

3 of Swords (Sorrow)

8 of Cups (Indolence)

Death

The Tower

The Magus

 

Conclusion 

Thoth Tarot Colour Symbolism : The general feel of the card could be determined by overall colour in some cases such as the 7 and 8 of Cups, 3 of swords and 7 of disks all being dark cards and with difficult energies.

However Simple Theory of Colour attributes when applied to Thoth Tarot does not always give an accurate account of the energy and meaning of the card  so we must look at other factors when considering the colours chosen and what they represent.

Next we will look at the relationship of colour to the cards astrological attributes.

 

Links

The Spiritual Hierarchy

Meditation Group

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